


Beautiful

by PeroxidePirate



Category: Tortall - Pierce
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-24
Updated: 2010-02-24
Packaged: 2017-10-07 12:47:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeroxidePirate/pseuds/PeroxidePirate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty years as a warrior takes a toll on the body.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kel's body is strong and whole and perfect. Yes, there's a bruise here and a scar there -- she's a squire, after all. But her legs are not bowed from too many years in the saddle. Her wrists are not stiff from being strained and sprained and over worked, again and again. Her ribs are not uneven from being broken and healed without a healer. Her nose is not crooked. Her belly and thighs are not marked with the evidence of weight lost, and gained, and lost, and gained once more. The skin of her arms and cheeks and neck is not weathered to the texture of cheap paper from much too much time in the sun. She has not even lived the number of years that Buri has spent demanding the physically impossible of herself.

As Buri's hands and mouth learn the details of Kel's body, her mind memorizes, like it never did – with even the most flawless of her lovers – when she was Kel's age. This is perfect, and this, and this.

When Kel is finished sighing in utter bliss, when she leans up and catches Buri's mouth in a kiss, when she seems about to return the favor, Buri draws away.

"Don't," she says, gruffly. "I'm not ready."


	2. Chapter 2

"You don't trust me," Kel says, hurt obvious in her voice. Kel, in bed, is a different creature than Kel in the world. She is wholly honest, without artifice. This is why Buri's not ready: if Kel looks at her -- really looks at her -- and touches and tastes, her feelings will show. If her reaction is disgust or pity, or fear that this is what she might one day become, Buri is not ready.

"I won't be good at it," Kel continues, blushing. "Not like you are. You'll have to teach me. But I learn fast, and you can be honest with me. Can't you trust me enough to let me try?"

"It's not that." Buri struggles to explain. "Only, you're so beautiful..."

When Kel laughs, it's a harsh, self-depreciating sound.

"You _are."_ Buri looks at Kel, taking her in. She runs hands along the younger woman's limbs, over her ribcage, across her cheeks. "All this fits together as it should. All of it works, as it should. You can do anything. You haven't spent twenty-five years riding and training and getting pounded and sleeping in the rain. I have. It's not pretty."

"But I _will,"_ Kel says, matter-of-fact. She takes Buri's hand, weaving their fingers together. Buri studies the contrast.

Kel looks at Buri, all seriousness, and kisses her cheek. "And what's more beautiful than the evidence that you are living?"


	3. Chapter 3

Slow but purposeful, Kel reaches for the laces on Buri's shirt. Her tunic and breeches are already off, like all of Kel's clothes. They don't speak, but Kel's eyes say,_ Trust me._

Buri opens her mouth – maybe to change her mind – and Kel kisses her before she can speak. And kisses, and kisses, while her hands slide inside Buri's shirt and along the bare skin of her back, abdomen, breasts. For all her strength, she's suprisingly gentle – she's unsure, Buri realizes suddenly. _She's more scared of you than you are of her. _

Then, fear aside, Kel begins to kiss her way down, pulling aside Buri's loincloth, and Buri is swept up in so much desire that she forgets to be self-conscious. Just the tickle of Kel's breath is almost enough, and she opens her eyes to see Kel watching her face. “Beautiful,” Kel says, and her tongue sweeps over Buri's skin.


End file.
